True Backgammon 4+

I enjoy the game even though the computer player definitely appears to have home advantage when it comes to rolling the dice.

As an example, if you leave any counters exposed the computer rapidly finds a roll of the dice which means they’ll be taken off the board. In the reverse case it seldom happens as quickly. Trying to find your way back onto the board by landing on the computer player’s counter seems nigh on impossible.

More often than not, if you ensure you don’t leave any counters vulnerable then you will have a very good chance of victory. However, if you play a slightly riskier game you will quickly find the computer player advances to a position of unassailable strength taking your counters quicker than you can say “are the dice rigged?”.

Overall, it’s good fun but I find myself using the ‘Resign Game’ option very frequently as you can see what’s going to happen. This obviously wouldn’t be the case in a real human-human match.

Overall, it’s a 3.5 to 4 out of 5. I agree with another reviewer who wrote that you can predict what the computer player will roll before they actually do and this takes the shine off what could be an excellent version of the game.

Thank you very much for your fair review. I want to bring your attention to which I also write other users blaming the app for being loaded: From time to time the app shows an information dialog about the various possibilites the app is offering to help users prove that the app is not cheating. A list of all upcoming dice rolls can be displayed by pressing the small dice symbol in the right app menu to convince users who think that the computer rolls dice depending on the game situation. A button inside the dice dialog is available to create new dice at any time for people who think that the computer derive a benefit from the fact that he could know the upcoming dice. And there is an option to switch the app to manual dice roll, so that everyone can prove with one or two matches up to 15 points that the success rate against the computer will not increase. Believe me, as the programmer of this app I do not have the slightest benefit from writing an app which cheats, and which makes customers unhappy. This simply does not make sense. The BGBlitz-Engine from Frank Berger, available in the In-Appstore, is probably the best backgammon engine in the world. No human player will often win against such an AI, those engines are made mostly for training purposes. The feeling that the computer is cheating is even higher when playing against such an engine. The main reason is, that in a Backgammon game that one best move does not exist, but it is all about probabilities to play the game in a way, that your opponent is unable to use most possible dice rolls, while you are able to use nearly every dice roll. And this is something a computer can do much better than most casual gamers. The result is that a human most of the time has a feeling of never get the dice he is hoping for, while the computer always gets dice which fit into the game.

Having played this game for quite a while I can definitely say that the developer has changed the equation.
It’s mostly all to do with how many games the computer will allow you to win before it will win time and time again regardless of the improbable chance of it throwing the numbers!
FOUR doubles in a row after doubling…..yeah that really happens….keeping two blots off the board even though you have three points available for SIX throws whilst the other side sorts itself out? And meanwhile he will have one point available and slot everything on it that you knock off time after time?
His favourite technique for winning is keeping a knocked off blot off the board whilst he is bearing off until half or more of his are off, even though half the points are available, and then let you back in on 6 so you can’t do a thing. Real games rarely work this way so consistently.
Unfortunately it has become an unrealistic game as I really used to enjoy playing it, and don’t believe the whole try with ‘try with your own dice’ thing…

From time to time the app shows an information dialog about the various possibilites the app is offering to help users prove that the app is not cheating. A list of all upcoming dice rolls can be displayed by pressing the small dice symbol in the right app menu to convince users who think that the computer rolls dice depending on the game situation. A button inside the dice dialog is available to create new dice at any time for people who think that the computer derive a benefit from the fact that he could know the upcoming dice. And there is an option to switch the app to manual dice roll, so that everyone can prove with one or two matches up to 15 points that the success rate against the computer will not increase. Believe me, as the programmer of this app I do not have the slightest benefit from writing an app which cheats, and which makes customers unhappy. This simply does not make sense. The BGBlitz-Engine from Frank Berger, available in the In-Appstore, is probably the best backgammon engine in the world. No human player will often win against such an AI, those engines are made mostly for training purposes. The feeling that the computer is cheating is even higher when playing against such an engine. The main reason is, that in a Backgammon game that one best move does not exist, but it is all about probabilities to play the game in a way, that your opponent is unable to use most possible dice rolls, while you are able to use nearly every dice roll. And this is something a computer can do much better than most casual gamers. The result is that a human most of the time has a feeling of never get the dice he is hoping for, while the computer always gets dice which fit into the game.

So,
I read with interest the previous comments about the computer being just ‘too lucky’ - I’m playing full ‘BG Blitz 2 Mode’ and I’m a competent player. Here’s the deal - It really does seem that when there is a critical throw the computer comes up trumps. I’m not talking overall probability here, just that when (for example) a ‘double 4’ is the only throw that will guarantee the computer a win, it does seem to happen rather often.
I’ve beaten ‘BG Blitz’ a couple of times but, despite the protestations of the Developer, it has the edge on lucky throws. My opinion is backed up by the fact that when I play using the ‘roll your own dice’ mode… I win.
Maybe it was just chance but these matches were up to 15 so the probability should have evened out. Strange that I win on human dice rolls but not computer generated ones. Could just be chance.
Either way it’s a shame because it’s a playable and fluid game.

It was chance for sure. BGBlitz will be used by world class players for training purposes, and even during world championships the check if the move of a player was correct or not will be made by looking at an AI like BGBlitz. If they are the same, the move was correct, if it is different it wasn't. Such AI's are for training purposes only. If you only have fun playing when you win, please do not use such an engine, and play with the built-in engines, which are much more on a normal human level.